


What Makes a Home

by whitexblackrose



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:05:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13161783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitexblackrose/pseuds/whitexblackrose
Summary: Right before the holidays, the Avengers are delivered some bad news. Thor and Loki could be deported, and the occupation of Superhero isn't enough to get them a green card. After some backroom discussions they come up with a plan: just marry a local. While Jane says yes, Darcy issues Loki a challenge to give her an honest proposal from the heart. Can he deliver a heartfelt proposal in time?





	What Makes a Home

**Author's Note:**

> While I didn't have the time to do a proper Fandom Holidays short series, I thought the xmas present for my wonderful readers this year could be this long fic. 
> 
> Enjoy ;)  
> Ann

Darcy blinked, pinched herself, and then blinked again. “What?” she managed to get out.

“The authorities aren’t accepting the whole Asgardian thing, and we have to get Mr. Thunder and Smurf married so they can stay put,” Tony rephrased. “And just to put out there, I offered to bribe people, but Cap said that isn’t ethical. Plus, I’d be competing with all of the Nordic countries who are creating some really sweet deals for these two.”

“And Australia,” Clint added. “For some reason, Australia wants to give Thor citizenship in exchange for being some kind of lizard wrangler to prevent the locals from being terrorized.”

“Sweden’s newest offer is a whole village while Iceland’s newest offer is a temple,” Natasha said while reading something on a laptop.

Tony, whether in seriousness or jest, responded with, “My wedding present will be ownership of a company and stock in Stark Industries. And, if the ladies want it, I’ll buy them their own island.”

Thor looked at Jane apologetically while ignoring Tony. “I didn’t intend to propose marriage so soon but,” he trailed off. 

“You oaf, of course, I say yes,” Jane responded.

It was then Darcy felt everyone looking at her and Loki.

_We’ve only been dating a month,_ Darcy reminded herself. Loki was sweet, a far better gentleman than she was expecting, and movie nights were fun with him. Darcy even managed to get Loki interested in gaming with her. They easily could stay up all night going questing together or slaying bosses. That both amused and frustrated Fury to no end because they’d fall asleep during briefings.

_If only he knew I’m trying to get everyone together for some epic DND,_ Darcy thought. 

Darcy felt Loki tuck a stray hair of hers behind her ear as a way to remind her that he was right there and waiting for an answer. When she looked up, she felt a lump in her throat. Loki looked so damn vulnerable, like a tiny abandoned kitten on the roadside in the rain. For her, he made himself an open book, and it felt like a punch in the gut. She felt like she could’ve grabbed his heart at that moment, free to treasure it or stomp on it.

“Darcy,” Loki inquired softly.

“I will say yes on one condition. You, Mr. Reindeer Games, have to come up with your own proposal and I want it to be from your heart,” Darcy delivered her ultimatum.

Loki’s brow rose at the challenge, his normal expression back in place. And then with full showmanship, he knelt.

“Darcy, love of my life, keeper of the key to my heart, the one I cannot imagine life without – will you marry me?”

“You just mashed up a bunch of chick flick proposals,” Darcy pointed out and just to antagonize him, patted his head like she would a puppy. “A for effort though.”

Tony erupted in laughter at Loki’s “don’t even” expression. Even Steve cracked a smile. Clint though slipped the card of a florist in Loki’s pocket with the whisper of, “you’ll need it.”

*

In private, Darcy glared at Loki. They retreated to his apartment because she wanted a private conversation. But now that they were in private, she wouldn’t stop glaring.

“Never do that again,” she demanded.

Loki blinked. “Do what?” he asked as he joined her on the couch.

“Public announcements embarrass me. It’s like society’s expectations press down on me. I can’t think straight,” Darcy pouted at him.

“But you handled it well,” he pointed out. Darcy put forward conditions that made him have to work for her approval.

Darcy looked guilty for a moment. “Only because I knew the you I was seeing wasn’t the genuine you I see when we’re in private.” _It didn’t feel like I knew you,_ she added mentally.

Loki sighed and looked at the ceiling. “Old habits die hard,” he confessed.

“Is this what you want? If you weren’t facing the government from removing you from the tower and banning you from the country, would you be asking me this?” Darcy asked.

Loki hesitated. He thought of how much he enjoyed his time with Darcy. Neither one of them realized they were dating until Tony voiced his observation that they were a little too close to be best friends or friends with benefits. He was amused by the games they played together, the puzzles she’d put before him to solve, and her look of joy when he solved them.

He was equally enthralled with the cuddling sessions they’d have when the gaming was done. The short woman next to him had no qualms about using him as a pillow or a heat source; she frequently would use him as a finger-warmer in the lab by pressing her fingertips against his neck or arm. 

“I think I would’ve eventually asked for your hand once we had more time to explore our compatibility,” Loki finally responded.

“You mean the number of times you can prank me before I announce a war?” Darcy offered as a lighthearted joke.

Loki laughed and pulled her closer. “I meant the number of times you can witness me struggling before you decide on whether or not you’re staying.” It made him afraid to voice it, but the woman in his arms deserved someone who wasn’t as broken as he. Loki wasn’t about to lie to himself, he knew Darcy deserved far better, but for some reason, she approached him one morning and invited him over to play video games; and ever since she picked him.

Darcy jabbed his ribs, earning a soft grunt.

“Dude, I’m keeping you,” she scolded. “You took the time to learn how to make me the perfect latte and magic me one whenever I need it.”

Loki hummed and rubbed her back.

“Plus,” Darcy dragged out teasingly as she sat on his lap, “I finally trained you to do that thing I like.”

The trickster smirked. “Which thing is that, my lady?”

Darcy kissed him and lingered to tug on his lip with her teeth. “The thing that makes me announce to the universe that you’re a god,” she whispered against him.

“Remind me,” Loki wondered as his hands rested on Darcy’s waist, “did we get around to christening this couch?”

Darcy shifted away from him long enough to kick off her shoes. “Let’s do it again. I like it when we’re messy.”

*

When the press got their hands on the news that two of the Avengers could be deported, people went marching in the streets to protest. The entire city held an emergency meeting where they debated becoming their own country to prevent the government’s act. While the city officials met, the state officials had a similar meeting and were researching how they’d become a self-sustaining country.

Nearly everyone was watching the tv. Nationwide, reporters were showing the protests over the news that Thor and Loki would be deported. What started as a protest in New York spread across the country to where there wasn't a single town in America who didn't have people protesting in the streets.

A couple of Tony’s connections had an anti-deportation ad for the networks using recordings of Thor dressing up as Santa’s helper on Christmas and passing out presents at the children’s hospital. Then the ad showed Loki at the library doing Children’s Corner and working at after-school programs where he tutored his charges – there was even a video where Loki was seen intimidating several gang members who jumped a scrawny looking kid. At the end of the ad, the words, “Don’t take these children’s heroes away” followed by the phone number for all branches of the government faded onto the screen.

Loki looked shocked. “Who took that?” he demanded and gave Tony a disapproving look.

“A little birdy said you’d been policing areas where drug dealers and gang members were harassing kids at the school you volunteer at,” Tony responded with a shrug.

“I think that was sweet,” Darcy said and Loki perked, “in its own twisted, vigilantly way.”

Thor just stared at the screen, awed at the outpouring of adoration of a nation.

“We’re getting a flood of emails and social media shout outs,” Bruce said while scrolling through two webpages he had set up side by side on the laptop.

Darcy got up and took a peek at the Avenger’s Twitter feed. “That’s a whole lot of people volunteering to officiate your wedding,” she told Jane and Thor.

A phone pinged and Natasha checked her smartphone. “Russia’s putting forward offers and a puzzle,” she reported.

“Do we want to know?” Steve grumbled.

“They’re offering Loki finders keepers on Ivan the Terrible’s Library,” Natasha answered.

“They don’t even know where it is,” Clint blurted out.

Loki smirked. “And they’re assuming I haven’t gotten my hands on it.” At everyone’s shocked looks, the trickster shrugged. “I got bored.”

A timer beeped and Loki got up. Everyone kept their eyes on the tv or their phones as messages came in. Darcy looked up when Loki returned because he handed her, her latte. After she took a sip, the froth departed to form the phrase, “Will you marry me?”

Darcy took another sip and tapped away on her phone.

Less than a second later Loki felt his cell phone buzz. Darcy’s text read, “Neat, but that doesn’t sound heartfelt yet.”

Loki glowered at her and texted back, “I’m trying.”

Darcy glanced at her phone when it vibrated. She kissed his cheek and just settled in to watch the chaos on the tv.

“I know.”


End file.
